We maintain the best listing we can of natural history-related events on Martha’s Vineyard. While we periodically check organizational websites and newspaper calendar sections for events to include here, we’d welcome your help making this part of our website as complete and helpful as possible. Are you or your organization involved in an event that might be of interest to friends of the Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life? Please email MVAL program director Matt Pelikan at with details or a web link.
Thanks for your help!
Upcoming Events
4th Annual Long Point Bioblitz
POSTPONED to 11:00 p.m., Saturday, June 28, 2025, – 11:00 p.m. Sunday, June 29, 2025. Long Point Wildlife Refuge. Our fourth year bioblitzing this superb Trustees of Reservations property! Register using the button below to receive directions, event updates, and information on special events, and to join a team led by an experienced naturalist. Participants will meet at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 29, in the Long Point winter parking lot (access off of Deep Bottom Road, not the swimming beach). Optional mothing event at the winter parking lot starts 8:15 p.m. Sunday evening. You can also participate on your own: simply upload observations from Long Point during the event time frame into iNaturalist.
Tiny Beetle, Big Impact: Southern Pine Beetle Biology, Ecology, and Managment
Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 5:20 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Polly Hill Arboretum Farm Barn, 795 State Road, West Tisbury. Co-sponsered by Polly Hill Arboretum and BiodiversityWorks. Presented by Dr. Caroline Kanaskie, forest entomologist and community ecologist. A relatively new arrival on Martha’s Vineyard, the southern pine beetle has caused extensive pitch pine mortality in parts of the island. A native North American beetle with a fascinating life history, this species has extended its range northward in recent years, posing complex management questions that are likely to grow more urgent with time. Dr. Kanaskie will share what scientists know about the southern pine beetle from research throughout its range, including how to manage for this native (yet sometimes destructive) insect. Free and open to all.
Introduction to Vineyard Butterflies
Thursday, July 24, 2025, 5:00 p.m. Aquinnah Library, State Road, Aquinnah. BiodiversityWorks community naturalist Matt Pelikan presents on the ecology, identification, and status of the Vineyard’s butterflies. A great way to get started learning about these charasmatic and easy to study insects! Free and open to all.
3rd Annual Correllus State Forest Bioblitz
5:00 p.m. Friday, July 25 – 5:00 p.m. Saturday, July 26. Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. Join us for an intensive, 24-hour survey of the biodiversity of this ecologically important property. Register using the button below to receive directions, event updates, and information on special events, and to join a team led by an experienced naturalist. We will meet at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, at the state forest headquarters area off of Barnes Road. Optional mothing event at the headquarters area starts at 8:00 p.m. Friday evening. Naturalists of all levels are welcome. You can also participate on your own: simply upload observations from within Correllus during the event time frame into iNaturalist.